Nigeria’s President Orders 80% Salary Increase for Junior Soldiers
President Bola Tinubu has approved a sweeping salary increase for members of the Nigerian Armed Forces, granting pay raises of between 30 and 80 per cent across different ranks, in what officials are describing as one of the most significant welfare packages for military personnel in recent years.
The new pay structure was disclosed on Tuesday in a State House statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who confirmed that the revised salary regime will take effect from September 1, 2026. The review is expected to benefit approximately 250,000 personnel across the Nigerian Army, Navy, and Air Force, and will raise the federal government’s annual military wage bill by ₦264 billion, from ₦660 billion to ₦924 billion.
The salary adjustment follows a graduated structure that scales inversely with rank, meaning the most junior personnel receive the steepest percentage increases. Under the new framework, junior soldiers, ranking from private to staff sergeant and comprising the bulk of the military’s frontline fighting force, will receive the highest increase of 80 per cent. Personnel ranking from colonel down to warrant officer will see a 50 per cent raise, while senior officers above the rank of colonel, including brigadier generals, major generals, lieutenant generals, and generals, will receive a 30 per cent increase.
Onanuga said the salary review was designed to improve the welfare of armed forces personnel serving across the country, with the government framing the graduated structure as a deliberate effort to direct the largest pay improvements toward personnel most actively engaged in combat operations against insurgency, banditry, and kidnapping.
The increase builds on earlier welfare measures introduced under the Tinubu administration. Defence Minister Christopher Musa had previously disclosed that the minimum monthly salary for Nigeria’s lowest-ranked soldiers had already been raised from roughly ₦49,000 to ₦100,000 in recent years, though it remains unclear whether that earlier adjustment forms part of the newly approved review or was implemented as a separate measure. The presidency has not yet released the full revised salary table detailing the exact naira figures resulting from the latest increase.
The announcement comes as Nigerian troops remain deployed in sustained counter-insurgency and internal security operations nationwide, with frontline personnel having previously voiced concerns over inadequate welfare conditions. Tinubu had earlier pledged his entire presidential salary, estimated at ₦38.66 million accrued since assuming office in May 2023, toward a special fund supporting wounded personnel and the families of fallen soldiers.
While the move has been welcomed as a significant morale-boosting measure, questions remain over how the increase will be perceived by junior enlisted personnel, particularly given earlier calls from veterans’ groups for a minimum monthly wage of ₦250,000. Attention will now turn to how swiftly the new pay structure is implemented once it takes effect on September 1.
About the Author
